Current Position
Member of the Illinois State Board of Elections, Partner at HeplerBroom, LLC

Career Highlights
“Being hired by an established law firm (Stobbs & Sinclair, Ltd.) in my hometown in 2008, making partner there in 2011; and then being hired by HeplerBroom in 2013 and making partner in 2015.”

Memories of SSU/UIS
“Other than meeting my wife of course, I really enjoyed the student activities and social aspect of college life. We had a large group of friends who we stay in contact with regularly. While Springfield offered several work opportunities and is what brought me to town, UIS still provided a fun college atmosphere and a multicultural, diverse student body to enrich my college experience.”

How did UIS change or prepare you?
“The decision to attend UIS after junior college was the most consequential of my life. I was a political science major and I wanted to be in the state capital so I could, potentially, have the opportunity to work in the capitol building and maybe on political campaigns. During my first year, I interned for my hometown state representative, then House Deputy Republican Leader Tom Ryder, which led to a summer internship with the Illinois House Republican Downstate Policy Staff in the district office of House Assistant Minority Leader Ron Stephens, which then led to a full time job at the Illinois Republican Party before even graduating from UIS. I also made connections through the College Republicans, including my service as State Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Illinois College Republican Federation, which I still maintain and have helped me secure opportunities along the way.

UIS is just the right size, small enough for students to network, develop, and maintain relationships with a lot of people without getting lost at sea and large enough to offer a variety of experiences and opportunities found in a larger city. For any student interested in government service, public service, or politics in general there is really no better place in Illinois to both get an education and the opportunity for valuable work experience than UIS.

Also, I cannot speak about my time at UIS without mentioning that it is the place where I met my wife only two weeks into my first semester. We’ve been together 15 years, the past 12 of them married, and have three beautiful daughters. When we’re in Springfield for meetings or work we drive through campus and watch how much UIS has grown since we moved away from Springfield 12 years ago.”

Interesting Fact
“My wife, who was on the tennis team at UIS, and I still enjoy playing tennis when we have time. We also like to attend international festivals over in St. Louis or elsewhere, remembering the first such festival we attended years ago at UIS.”